On the Polar Express
by Obsessed With Top hats
Summary: rated T for slight swearing. Christmas has come faster than many thought possible but when a mysterious train thought to be a rumour shows up at Kadic Academy the group can only say, they are in for the ride of their lives. One shot.


one: i dun own any thing cept the plot and Carli. k? two: i cant control the tab to save my behind. so sorry.

* * *

"One week left!" Screamed a young blonde woman who ran to where the group usually met, slush piled around the area and everyone was waiting from their morning hot chocolate. "Until you finally grow up?!" came a smart remark from a nearby young lady, who was bundled more than needed. "No. Until Christmas!" the girl yelled back. Indeed the group knew this already, everyday in December it was the same routine since she joined their group, but some of them got laughs from her foolishness. "Carli calm down." Came a young mans voice. 

"What is Christmas?" asked another young man, his eyes were very different from normal human eyes, they had a target insignia instead of a pupil, his hair was jet black. His name was Xana. At one time he had been the group's enemy. When he had joined the group Carli offered to teach him about humanity and such.

"You mean you didn't tell him?" asked the young man from before. "Completely slipped my mind Jeremy" Carli responded. "I was too busy with all the college crud my parents send me." Jeremy rolled his eyes. Just as the bell rang "well you better tell him after class." "What about you and telling Aelita about that story? The Polar Express?" she asked pointing out a young woman who sat nearby dressed head to toe in pink and red colors. "You know that's a myth right Carli?" came another voice. Carli smiled "only to those who haven't thought of it. Or seen it for that matter." She said mysteriously before walking towards her class, Xana trailing after her in confusion. Aelita giggled, ever since Carli joined Xana had been acting strangely, but she knew something the others didn't. Xana had a crush on Carli.

* * *

"Well Christmas is like a birthday" Carli said.

"How so? I don't have a birthday." Xana remarked sending Carli into a flurry of giggles.

"No. Christmas, is about the birth of a very special person named Jesus." She said after calming down, "He was born on Christmas, lived for thirty-three years then died three days before Easter. Then, and here's what makes him special, he rose from the dead three days after dying, on Easter, which is the main reasons for Christmas and Easter." Xana looked thoughtful before saying, "so a kid who performed miracles rose from the dead?" Carli nodded, knowing Xana had finally gotten what she had been explaining.

* * *

"The Polar Express is a train, by legend it's a magic train, which takes kids to the North Pole to meet Santa." Jeremy explained to Aelita, She nodded "but Jeremy I thought you said Santa isn't real?" Carli who sat nearby laughed aloud then said, "He doesn't for real Aelita but by legend he exists." "Aren't you supposed to be explaining something to Xana? Or did you get bored with talking?" Carli smirked "I already explained it to him, during lunch."

"Why do people believe the Polar Express is real?" Aelita asked, "Well, people believe it's real because they've seen it. Or have claimed to seen it." Jeremy said. "And I'm one of those who have seen it" came Carli's input. Jeremy rolled his eyes in annoyance.

* * *

Carli looked around her room, 'three days left' was written on her calendar on the date of December Twenty-Second. She smiled, she knew that this year would be slightly different from what the others were used to, she could feel it, usually during Christmas she felt happy and excited, there were very rare years however, when she felt such, ten times over. Something was going to happen this year, she was sure of it.

* * *

Christmas Eve finally came and the group gathered in Jeremy's dorm with the gifts they planned to exchange. Xana walked up to the door and knocked, "Password?" asked a voice behind the door, Xana smiled to himself, "Carli open the door you smart mouth." He said. The door opened to a grinning Carli, with Odd, Ulrich, Jeremy and Aelita already in the room, Ulrich and Odd looked like they had just gotten the snot kicked out of them, Xana then saw the broken leaves of mistletoe littering the floor around the room. "Lemme guess, Mistletoe hats?" Aelita giggled from nearby, Odd had stuck some of the remaining mistletoe into Jeremy's hair. Jeremy was now looking murderous and blushing furiously. Aelita giggled and kissed Jeremy on his cheek; she pulled away and began plucking the pieces of mistletoe from his hair.

Carli shook her head and threw Odds present at him knocking him back. The others laughed as Carli continued passing out the gifts she'd gotten them. This routine continued until everyone had passed out their presents, Odd then grumbled and asked, "why can't we open them now?", "Because tonight is only Christmas eve, it's tradition for people to open presents on Christmas day."

* * *

Every one lay in their dorms, fast asleep. A slow muffled rumbling filled the air.

"Hmmm?" Aelita seemed to ask herself as she woke up suddenly, she got up, rubbed her eyes and was surprised to feel a vibration beneath her feet, and lights bouncing outside, a loud but muffled rumble filled her ears as she crossed her room to her door. She opened the door and looked around. "What?" she asked again, she closed her door and opened her closet grabbing the pink bathrobe Jeremy had gotten her last year. She walked to her window and heard a faint whistle followed by loud chugging. She blinked, Jeremy said the closest trains to the school were many miles away, but this sounded much closer. She jumped as her cell phone rang and picked it up. It was Carli.

"Did you hear that?" Came the yell on the other end, "Jeremy said trains are around here, not surprising." Aelita responded, Carli sighed annoyed "Aelita, that train sounded closer than any other I've heard, do you know what this means?", "That a train has run off it's tracks and is heading for us?" Silence met this. Carli suddenly burst out laughing and Aelita pulled the phone away from her ear in annoyance, "Aelita, It means 'The Year' has come!" with that Carli had hung up, Aelita's phone began vibrating, the Text message read 'meet me outside C' Aelita raised her eyebrow and shook her head, "Yeah, this make sense, drive your friends out into the cold, on Christmas eve, at five minutes to midnight."

Aelita saw Jeremy, Yumi, Ulrich and Odd all waiting downstairs looking peeved. They were all dressed for the cold, shaking their heads, "We might as well humor her" Odd said. With that they all went outside and saw Carli and Xana standing nearby, a giant train behind them, but the only thing catching Aelita's attention was the writing on the side of the train car, in big golden lettering was written 'The Polar Express'. "Is this a joke?" Jeremy asked aloud, Carli turned around and with a smile she said "Told you it was real" She began walking towards the train where the conductor waited patiently.

"Well?" He asked politely as the group approached, "Are you all coming?" "Where?" Ulrich asked. "Why to the North Pole of course! This Is the Polar Express after all! Where'd you think it'd go, to the Bahamas?" Carli immediately got on and turned around "You'll never know where it goes unless you get on" she said, with that she disappeared into the train, Xana soon followed her into the train car. Odd then shrugged, "What the heck" and got on, "as long as they serve food." The others rolled their eyes, Aelita then said, "Who knows, it might be fun" and got on the train, Jeremy on her trail. "I suggest you hurry. We are on a tight schedule.", "C'mon" Ulrich said, dragging Yumi onto the train. The conductor rolled his eyes and got onto the train after Ulrich and Yumi entered the car.

"Why are we doing this again?" Jeremy asked, sitting back in his seat as the train lurched forward. "Because it might be fun, you'll never know, we might actually end up at the North Pole." Carli answered from the seat in front of Aelita and Jeremy, "You know that we'd have to cross oceans to reach the North Pole, right?" Aelita asked her. Kids nearby exclaimed "This is a magic train, it could cross the Solar System if it wanted!" Jeremy stuck out his tongue to the kids as they turned their backs, Aelita giggled and said "Stop acting childish Jeremy, they don't know any better, because their brains are still developing" she then poked his tongue pushing back into his mouth, Jeremy blushed and said a soft "Sorry Aelita" before turning away as the kids from before began singing a childish song.

"Jeremy and Aelita, sitting in a tree" They began, but were cut off when Aelita turned and said, "You realize every time you sing that song you lose brain cells?" The kids then kept their mouths shut. Jeremy turned and smiled weakly at Aelita, in truth his stomach felt queasy. Simply looking at her made him feel worse, he turned back towards the window and watched the scenery pass by in front of him and change.

"Jeremy, what's wrong?" Asked a very concerned Aelita, Jeremy had not spoken for a few hours. He hadn't even looked at her for a while. What concerned her the most was that he kept looking nervous, almost scared. What worried her most was he only got these looks when he looked at her, other than that he looked depressed.

"It's nothing" Jeremy answered. "Hey kid! What's the matter? Can't talk because your mouth is so full of dirt?!" a kid nearby yelled, the kid's friends began laughing, and the voice he heard next surprised him, "you should be one to talk, _kid_, after all you probably live in dirt, and I'd rather have it in my mouth than be living in it!" It was his own voice. The kids who were laughing at him stopped and stared, Next to Jeremy, Aelita burst into giggles. The kid who insulted Jeremy got up from his seat, and approached Jeremy, "You think you're so funny?" "No, I think kids who have nothing nice to say to me or my friends should keep their mouths shut" Jeremy answered.

The kid looked stunned, "No one talks to me like that, and those who do are lucky to be alive, and if you consider yourself strong enough, then stop hiding behind your girlfriend and fight me." Jeremy caught Aelita's eye and was about to stand when she pushed him back into his seat. She stood and stared the kid in the eye, "at least he has a girlfriend, meanwhile you sit with your little group wondering who to victimize next." Aelita then sat down. Every one around them had their eyes on Aelita. The group seemed to be in shock. Carli on the other hand was in a fit of giggles, Odds voice suddenly rang out, "Can you say 'Whipped'?" many of the kids laughed at this.

The young boy who had been causing the trouble, threw back his fist, about to punch Aelita, a hand swung out and held his fist inches from her face. Jeremy had stood and thrown his hand out to stop the blow from landing, he then pushed lightly on the fist, sending a shock ripple through the kid and making him falls backwards, Jeremy then sat back down, A smile on his face. Aelita giggled, and kissed him. Jeremy blushed slightly but kissed her back.

"What in the name of Sam Hill is going on?!" came a yell from the conductor who had seen only small parts of the fight. Aelita and Jeremy instantly broke their kiss and blushed furiously. The kids friends were about to speak when Carli spoke up "Sir, Those kids were insulting my friends, saying their mouths were full of dirt, my friends, Jeremy and Aelita made smart remarks about it and the kid turned on Jeremy, picking a fight. Aelita broke up the fight and the kid was about to punch her, Jeremy was only defending her!" many other kids nodded.

"Thank you for telling me, now as for you four." He pointed to the kids who had been insulting Jeremy, including their leader. "You come with me." He then began walking towards the Caboose, motioning for the trouble makers to follow. The kids began following, one of them gave the couple a rude hand gesture.

Aelita stuck out her tongue, Jeremy did the same, and Xana who sat nearby asked Jeremy, "Want me to sick the Scyphizoa on them?" Aelita giggled at the question while Jeremy shook his head. The conductor passed and headed for the door saying as he walked "Take your seats everyone please."

People raised their eyebrows but Carli and Xana sat down, soon everyone else followed suit. "Thank you", the conductor said, "now," he picked up the megaphone attached to the wall and said into it, "Are there any Polar Express passengers in need of refreshment?" Jeremy then realized his stomach was growling slightly and watched as some other kids raised their hands _yeah, sure why not…_ he thought as he raised his hand as well. "I thought so" the conductor then opened the door behind him and ten waiters along with five cooks came marching in, The gang watched as they performed tricks and sang while serving food and hot chocolate.

When the cooks and waiters had returned to the kitchen station in the train, everyone seemed to be falling into dazes and humming to themselves. Thinking about the food and drink they had just been served.

It was now that Jeremy noticed Carli and Xana whispering about something, they seemed to make a deal and shook hands. other than the small disturbances of food and bathroom breaks, the trip continued unceremoniously. Until, that is, the incident.

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Odd continued asking at random times. "ODD!" Xana yelled angrily, "if we were there, then the train would stop!" suddenly the train swerved and everyone fell out of their seats, incidentally, Xana fell on top of Carli and Aelita on top of Jeremy, While Yumi and Ulrich landed side by side. Carli pushed Xana off of her, both were blushing a deep cherry red, Jeremy on the other hand was a deeper red than a tomato, thankful that Aelita picked herself up, Odd cleared his throat, he was holding up a camera, the four of them went if possible even redder. "Odd Della Robia." Carli started in a dangerously soft voice "Give me that camera, now." Xana finished. Odd gulped as Xana's eyes flashed the all familiar logo. He then ran to the front of the train car in fear, and sat down next to a small group of kids.

"I'll deal with this" Jeremy said simply, he then walked to where Odd sat and said something as the others watched, Odds face changed from one of triumph to one of pure terror, Aelita raised her eyebrow as Jeremy returned to the group with the camera in his hand. "Don't ask" he said as he approached "You threatened to shove him into the internet and leave him to rot didn't you?" Aelita asked, Jeremy merely smiled, Xana burst out laughing, "I'm usually the one who threatens someone!" he said.

"Sit down you nut!" Carli yanked Xana down on his seat by his shirt collar, nearly choking him. "You're not my mother, I'll do whatever I want!" Xana said stubbornly, getting out of his seat, which was a bad idea, because at that moment the train sped uphill sending Xana flying backwards, he landed loudly near where he'd flown from, Carli peeked over her seat and said simply, "I warned you" at that moment the train began speeding downhill, Carli flew from her seat and landed next to Xana who then laughed.

The train continued going up and down throwing the other passengers around, until the train began swerving and acted as through it were twirling on ice, Ulrich got up and looked out the window, "We're on a frozen lake!" all the kids then looked at each other as a loud rebounding crackling noise tore through the air around them., "not good" Odd said softly. The train then lurched forward, tossing its passengers around again, people held themselves close to the floor, afraid that if they moved then they'd be thrown again. The crackling sound continued.

Everyone screamed as the train jumped and fell onto its tracks below the ice. All of them clung to each other for dear life, except for the gang who had gotten back to their seats, shaken though they were, they didn't show any fear out of determination, Jeremy then turned to Carli and said "you realize that when this is all over I'm gonna kill you?" Carli looked at Jeremy, smiled and nodded. Odd burst out laughing.

The train ride then became slightly boring, until a yell of "look the northern lights!" brought everyone near the windows, indeed just outside Aurora Borealis fluttered through the skies above them. "We just passed it! Latitude 66 Degrees, 33 Minutes, the Arctic Circle." Everyone looked uncertainly at each other. "What happens when we get there?" one kid asked, "When we get there one of you will be chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas" all the kids exchanged glances as the Conductor walked away.

"So" Carli turned around in her seat, "Who do you think gets the first gift of Christmas?" the others shrugged, and Carli turned back around, the kids in front were singing loudly, Carli merely sat and stared out her window, nervousness creeping into her system. What if they didn't make it? What if they got stuck? She jumped as Xana touched her shoulder and pointed out her window, and she smiled, she could see the North Pole. She turned in her seat and pointed this out the most of the other kids, when she suddenly leapt from her seat. The train had hit a new set of tracks. Everyone soon became nervous, their only thoughts were if this was really the North Pole.

Soon everyone was shaking apprehension, if this was the real deal, then most likely, _He_ was the real deal too. As the Train made its way to the island in front of them, many had to hide their gasps. They had every reason to gasp though.

Instead of a deserted winter wasteland, a large town stood in its place. "wow" many kids muttered under their breaths as the train chugged through the town. Everyone continued staring out their windows at all the decorations that littered the town. The train then pulled to a stop in front of an enormous Christmas tree, everyone got up and got off the train into the cold. Everyone bundled into the groups, surprised at the lessened cold than they thought had been here. They were separated into and led into the town square where millions of elves stood waiting. They were then led to a small clearing in the mass of elves.

"Wow, some gathering huh?" this earned Carli a whack on the back of her head from the group. The group waited, every now and then turning a deaf ear as the kids nearby made snide remarks, one thing ran through their minds 'how much longer'.

After what seemed to be hours a loud round of trumpets filled the air, and eight rein deer were led to the front of a sleigh the group had only just noticed, the same sleigh had an enormous bag of wrapped gifts in it, it looked almost like an ocean liner. They all then heard a second louder round of trumpets and watched as many elves brought out a long reign lined with sleigh bells.

The Aelita could barely believe what she heard when the bells rang, a clear crisp sound rang through the air, louder than the trumpets and sweeter than any other sound she'd heard before. The softness of the bells made her almost forget why they were there, until the trumpets sounded again, louder and higher in pitch than the other times, a chorus of singing filled the area around them, the elves had begun singing.

"you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why…" the elves stopped singing as the double doors of a nearby building swung open, but who was in the door way no one could see.

The person made their way to the group, he had a large white beard and a smile on his face. He wore a large red overcoat, and a large black belt around his stomach. "Santa" many nearby kids whispered nervously as he approached Aelita, Jeremy, Xana, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Carli.

He stopped before Yumi who stood at the head of the group, everyone stared in silence. "You have a good sense of strength and determination, and a nice group of friends by the look of it, also I see a sense of Christmas spirit in you as well." Yumi smiled muttered a small 'thank you' and backed away. He then walked up to Carli who stood next in line, "another courageous fighter, but a little too much of a fighter." Carli bowed her head in shame and Santa smiled "but a good heart hidden within the fighter, and plenty of Christmas spirit", Carli kept her head hung but muttered a 'thanks' and backed away.

"And young Aelita" Aelita bowed her head embarrassedly, "hold out your hand young lady" Aelita looked up and held out her hand, and Santa lay a small piece of folded paper into her outstretched hand, she then closed her fist around it as Santa continued to address her, "you have been through more than your friends give credit for, and yet you face it head on without fear. And you have your friends at your side." Aelita nodded, "and still you face things even if you are alone and bravery is better than any gift anyone could give out." Aelita nodded, "thank you" she then backed away, unfolded the paper, and gasped, tears beginning to form in her eyes, she refolded the paper as Santa moved on to Odd, "The comedian of the group." Odd looked as though he had been caught and was in trouble, Santa laughed loudly, "oh, your humor does not mean you are in trouble young man. It simply means you must learn respect for those around you before you play such practical jokes on them." Odd let out a small 'oh' as Santa moved up to Ulrich who had his head bowed in an ashamed way. "another jokester, and yet an air of seriousness, and enough Christmas spirit about you as well. Along with plenty of friends to share it with" Ulrich smiled. "as long as you know when to believe then everything will go alright. Ulrich nodded and backed away.

"And Jeremy, the brains of the group. A very precious gift, to have so many friends when so many envy how smart some kids are. And no gift can match the gift of friendship." Santa then walked up to Xana and turned around, "And speaking of gifts" he pointed to Xana, "lets have this young man right here." Cheers rang through the air, but the group stood shell shocked, as Xana was led up to Santa's sleigh, while there they talked for a few minutes when Santa stood holding to necklaces in his hand, and yelled out, "THE FIRST GIFT OF CHRISTMAS!" The necklaces were handed to Xana and he quickly walked back to his friends.

As soon as the group got on the train they gathered around Xana, "Well, what'd you ask for?" asked one kid, "yeah, what were the necklaces for?" asked another. "I'm not telling." Xana said stubbornly. "I'd back off if I were you" Jeremy warned the kids, "he never reveals anything to us unless he wants to, I doubt he'll let a bunch of strangers know why he got those." The kids made their ways back to their seats after Jeremy said this, Xana nodded in thanks as the rest of the gang sat down.

A few minutes after the train lurched forward to head back the way it had come, the kids began falling asleep, Aelita among them, her head on Jeremy's shoulder. Jeremy had also fallen asleep and had his head above Aelita's. Carli turned around, pulled a small camera out of her pocket and took a picture of the sleeping couple. Xana shook his head as she said, "it's too cute to resist" She turned back around and sat back down next to Xana. "you realize you lost your bet, right Xana?" Xana blushed as Yumi looked at them weirdly, "bet?" se asked, Carli smiled, "we made a bet on who would get chosen, he said Aelita would, I said he would, if I had lost I would've had to run through all the train cars screaming my head off, Xana has to do something more embarrassing." "and that is?" Yumi asked thoughtfully, "he has to sing 'what are you doing new years eve?' into the microphone" Yumi and Ulrich burst out laughing, as Xana made his way to the front of the car, Aelita had woken and heard Xana's loss of the bet and woke Jeremy to watch Xana embarrass himself.

Xana gulped and took the microphone down from the holster, he then began singing into it, slightly off key. "Maybe it's much too early in the game  
Ooh, but I thought I'd ask you just the same  
What are you doing New Year's  
New Year's eve?" Carli giggled, as he continued, still slightly off-key, until the Conductor appeared in the window Xana dropped the microphone and ran at top speed to his seat, sitting just before the Conductor saw, People around him began laughing and cheering, even clapping. He turned to Carli and muttered, "you'll pay for that."

"Who took control of the microphone while I was away?" nobody pointed, nobody pinned the blame, but almost everyone was giggling or cheering. The Conductor shook his head and headed for the caboose of the train to ask who had used the microphone. Beside Xana, Carli was shaking with silent laughter. Xana grinned at his own actions, "I sang really off-key didn't I?" Carli nodded and burst into giggles.

"Hey Aelita?" Ulrich asked, "What was that paper he gave you?" Aelita smiled and pulled out the piece of paper, "it's a way to find my dad" she said happily, this caught the rest of the gang's attention, "are you serious?" Odd asked. She nodded. "Cool"

A few hours after they read through the note and made the plans to use the data to rematerialize Franz Hopper, they went back to their seats, talking to each other silently at people around fell asleep.

A few hours later the train screeched to a halt in front of Kadic academy. The group made their way off the train, waving good byes and such, before heading to the dorm building, the girls' headings to their hall ways and the boys going upstairs to their hallways.

"Well, can't say we've had a boring Christmas." Aelita whispered, to the others. "And what, exactly did you do on this eventful Christmas?" came the voice of Sissi Delmas in front of them, Carli smiled, "think we should tell her what her father planned, or ruin the surprise?" the others looked at each other, before saying "we'll only tell if her father says we can." Carli giggled, "sorry Sissi no can do, we promised" she said with a smile, "then I'll just have to tell my father you've been sneaking out past midnight", Aelita stepped forward, "and you sneaked out to just to catch us, so unless you want to get in trouble with your own father I suggest you not tell anyone we've been out.", "that threat won't work daddy says I'm allowed to stay out after hours, you aren't" Yumi's eyes narrowed, before a grin split on her face, he waved to someone behind Sissi and said softly, "Hi, Jim!" Sissi turned on her heel, "Jim, these bad kids… huh?" no one was there, Sissi turned back around the group had vanished.

"The only bad kid I see is Miss Elizabeth Delmas, who isn't even allowed out after hours even with her father's permission." Came a voice behind her. She turned, her father stood there looking quite angry, "and don't try to tell me you were sleep walking, daughter or not, you are going to be punished like any student at my school." He grabbed her arm and dragged her to her dorm. "You are not to leave the school grounds for three weeks, not even to go to the pool, you are not allowed to the Christmas dance tomorrow and you will serve detention during the dance." He said sternly to her, walking out of her room and closing the door behind him leaving a crying child in her room.

* * *

"I can't believe he punished Sissi, usually he spoils her beyond reason." Odd said softly in front of the coffee machine. It had been nine hours since the group had their adventure, though it felt much longer. "I know usually Sissi gets her way." Aelita said, the others quickly agreed, watching as Sissi fumed nearby. "Well. I know some good that came out of this." Carli stated, "what?" the others asked in unison, "if Sissi can't come to the dance, she can't show off, that ought to deflate her ego a bit" the others laughed at this. 

Although the dance was later that night the group had partners already, Jeremy asked Aelita only a few hours after finding out about the dance, when it turned out that she had been turning down boys so he could ask her, she of course said yes when he did ask. Yumi and Ulrich agreed to go together, after a lot of pushing from Odd which ended with Odd face first in a trash can, many pictures had been taken. Odd chose to remain single, While Xana had only moments ago asked Carli, who of course, accepted.

That night all the girls in the school seemed to have locked themselves in their dorms to dress up. The boys waited nervously at the bottom floor for their dates, one by one the dates arrived and went to the dance, Aelita who had dressed in a bright pink gown lined with lace, Jeremy who had a blue tux on, Carli who had a simple green dress with spaghetti straps, Xana who had a black tux, and Odd who had a purple tux included. Ulrich waited nervously at the bottom of the steps when he heard the soft click of heels rebound through the building, "Ulrich?" came a voice from the top of the steps, Yumi quietly walked down the stairs, and Ulrich's mouth dropped, she was in a black kimono, with a dark blue fan, her hair was in a bun with light bits of hair dropped around it. She giggled from behind the fan, and made her way down the stairs, where she pushed Ulrich's mouth shut. He shook his head and took her arm nervously to lead her to the dance.

"don't you dare" Odd shouted from the punch bowl, Xana had disappeared from Carli's side but Odd saw where he went, he was headed for the stage. "oh no" the group whispered unnoticed in unison as Xana calmly walked up the steps and asked to sing, Carli put her face in her hands as 'what are you doing new years eve' came up, she tried to block the singing but found she didn't need to, Xana was not off-key, he was singing it meaningfully and made it sound like it was supposed to, when the song ended everyone sighed with relief, Carli then approached him and said, "was it in your planner to give me a scare like that?" she was cut off from yelling anymore as Xana's lips suddenly met hers.

When Ulrich and Yumi entered they instantly saw the kissing scene, Aelita was giggling with a camera in her hand, and Jeremy was trying to hold in his laugh and failing miserably. Yumi giggled loudly as Ulrich coughed in front of the kissing couple, he then said, "do we have to separate you two and put you both in cages?" this broke the kiss and brought a storm of laughter. Xana turned to Ulrich and said, "Jealous because you've never kissed a girl?" this brought an audible 'ohhhh!' from the crowd, but within the gang this was nothing more than silly banter. "Actually I have kissed a girl, long before you even thought of kissing Carli." This was a new line, and Xana took it with stride, he said softly, "oh so you kissed your mother?" another new line and more laughter. "No but at least I have one" this line almost no one heard, Xana suddenly burst out laughing. Everyone then went back to their usual chatter, slightly disappointed that there wasn't a fight between Xana and Ulrich.

Carli walked up to her date and asked to talk to him for a second, without waiting for an answer she dragged him to the doors and outside to a bench, "ok, you said before the party you wanted to talk to me, now I'm listening." Xana turned his head away, "it's nothing", Carli paled and hissed in an annoyed fashion, "Xana, you just kissed me in front of the entire student body, you can't say that this kind of thing is nothing." Xana sighed, "Fine, I wanted to surprise you but what ever" he put a small box in her hand and stormed back to the party. Carli looked at the box suspiciously and opened it.

One of the necklaces Xana asked for lay neatly in the box, a turtledove shaped by gold and filled with diamond lay inside, along with a note.

"'Carli' she read to herself, 'as you may have noticed, the bird this necklace takes is a turtle dove, for some unknown reason I found the turtle dove a lot like us.'" she raised her eyebrow, "'"sure, we are friends" I hear you say to everyone who mocks us. Carli, you may not have noticed, but lately, I've been acting strange because of a small detail.'" Carli gasped and dropped the box, the necklace in her hand and the note clutched tightly in her fist as she read the next line, "'I want to be more than just a friend Carli, and so with a hoping heart, I ask of you. Will you go steady with me?'" Carli felt tears make their way down her face, and wiped them away. She looked again at the necklace and smiled, before clasping it around her neck.

"Ok Jeremy what's this all about?" Aelita asked as Jeremy dragged here away from the group, "why did you--" she was cut off as Jeremy's lips pressed against hers. As he pulled away she could only ask, "What was that for?" Jeremy smiled and said so softly she could barely hear it. "I-I love you" he whispered, his voice shaking. She smiled softly as she realized they were also standing beneath the mistletoe, she then pressed her lips to his, and whispered "I love you too." Jeremy then broke the kiss and smiled softly, giving Aelita a small box. She opened it and gasped, a small ring with an opal in the shape of a heart lay inside, "Aelita" Jeremy said almost in a question, "will you please be my girlfriend?" Aelita didn't answer, she instead took the ring, shaking softly, and placed it on her finger. She then pulled Jeremy into another kiss and smiled after they pulled away, "so Friday?" he asked. She laughed and nodded.

No one noticed as Carli made her way into the building, she headed towards Xana, the necklace hanging from her neck, softly reflecting the light. Her nerves began to fail as she walked. The black haired teen took no notice as she approached, he simply sulked. Carli cleared her throat and he turned around and out of her humorous side came the words, "What are you doing new years eve?" she asked, making a point to show she was wearing the necklace. "Not funny" he answered, not noticing the necklace. "It is to me, also I wanted to say I'm sorry. And thanks for the necklace" it was then he noticed the necklace, "and you read the note?" he asked, blushing. She nodded and smiled. "The answer?" he asked again, Carli laughed and said, "pick me up at seven on Friday." They both laughed.

Ulrich looked at the ring in his hand, "how do I tell her?" he asked himself. "How do you tell who what?" came Sissi's voice behind him, "Shouldn't you be in your dorm?" he retorted. "My dad let me off, so I could go with you to the dance, isn't that great?" she smiled, Ulrich rolled his eyes, "I've already got a date." "Who? That bitch Yumi?" she asked, "HEY! WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" Ulrich yelled angrily, half the kids turn to him as he yelled, "BESIDES I'D RATHER DATE YUMI RATHER THAN A SLUT LIKE YOU! AT LEAST SHE DOESN'T HAVE AN EGO BIGGER THAN THE SCHOOL!" after yelling he stormed away and out of the building, Yumi ran out after him. "HALLEUJAH!" Carli yelled, "Someone finally deflated her ego!" laughter filled the room as Sissi ran out, tears streaming from her eyes.

"ULRICH!" Yumi yelled as she approached him by the benches, "what was that about?" Ulrich was blushing furiously, "she called you a bitch, did you expect me to just say it was ok to call you that?" he asked her. "So you saw it fit to call her a slut?" "Yeah, I did, she's been after me for so long it's gotten more than annoying besides…" he muttered the rest of the words so Yumi couldn't hear. "hmm?" "I said she deserves to be called a slut when the girl she called a bitch is the one I have a crush on." His face had turned beet red looking as through it would fry an egg. "Really?" she asked softly, sitting next to him. He nodded embarrassingly. Yumi smiled, "Ulrich" "what?" "look above us" Ulrich looked up in the tree that hung over the bench, a small bundle of mistletoe hung hidden in the branches, "Mistletoe" he said, Yumi giggled as he quickly kissed her on the cheek. "You missed" she said, "I did?" She nodded, grabbed his chin and kissed him on the lips, eagerly he kissed back.

"Where do you think Yumi and Ulrich ran off to?" Odd asked. "I don't know, but Sissi seemed ticked" Aelita said. Indeed Sissi had just walked in looking as though she were ready to kill someone. "I wonder what happened." "Ten dollars says Ulrich dumped her and told Yumi he loves her." "Twenty says not" Odd said. Just then Yumi and Ulrich walked in hand in hand. "Burn" Jeremy muttered as Odd handed Twenty dollars to carli, Xana shook his head and Aelita giggled as Ulrich kissed Yumi and asked her to dance. "ok, now Sissi looks like she wants to kill" Carli pointed out, Sissi stood nearby shards of her punch glass digging into her skin the rest on the floor. "Ouch" they muttered in unison.

* * *

"So what happened?" Ulrich asked as the group made their way to the field for Physical Education. "Oh not much, Sissi nearly slit her own wrists with her punch glass. The thing shattered in her hand, I hear she got stitches because of it." Aelita said. "I think I speak for everyone when I say" Xana started, "this was one weird Christmas" Carli finished. The group laughed as they made their way to the field and the awaiting teacher. 


End file.
